I sounded ridiculous saying it. I never believed in such things until recently. But the Wanderer had come to me before in a dream and it had turned out to mean something then.
“I know that might not be solid, empirical evidence,” I said, “but this is the Wanderer we’re talking about. In my dream I stood on the edge of Ragnarok Crater, seeing it in perfect detail. At least fifty dragons are on their way here, hunting me.”
Everyone stared at me, as if trying to decide whether or not I was serious.
“How far away are they?” Makara asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “When we leave, we can fly this ship in that direction and do some scouting…”
“No need,” Ashton said. “I’d like to do a little more damage than that.”
Everyone was now looking at him.
“What do you mean, more damage?” Samuel asked.
“Aeneas still has three nukes left,” Ashton said. “Why not meet that force in the middle and take it out for good? We might end up destroying it entirely.”
“Wait,” I said, “wasn’t it you who just said that nukes are unpredictable?”
Ashton shrugged. “They are, especially when it comes to taking out the entirety of the Radaskim at Ragnarok Crater. But as far as a pack of dragons, hopefully traveling close together… it could completely wipe them out, or at least thin their numbers to make them manageable.”
I found myself agreeing. If these dragons were going to follow me, there was no way we could deal with all fifty of them at once. We had to find a way to thin the herd.
A nuke might be the best way to do that.
“Let’s try it,” Samuel said.
I didn’t know what it was he did, but everyone started nodding their heads. It was good to have our leader back. I wondered why he was in the wheelchair. Perhaps the injury had done something to his coordination. Whatever the case, it troubled me. His thinking, however, appeared to be clear, which was what counted.
Wheelchair or not, it looked like we had Samuel back.
“Let’s have both ships packed and ready to go,” Samuel said. “I don’t want to take much food — everyone here will need it more than we do. We’ll take enough crew to man the ships. We’ll only be in the air, after all. We can leave Char and Marcus to handle things at home.”
Makara nodded. “Sounds good.”
Samuel looked around the table. “Questions?”
No one said anything. It looked like we had our plan.
“Let’s get started, then.”
Chapter 23
Four hours later, both Aeneas and Gilgamesh were in the air. We sped east toward the Rockies, across Northern Nevada, and into Western Wyoming. Though it was now dawn, there was no light in the sky. The clouds were dark and thick, blocking all light. Even going above them did little to help matters. We were as close to Ragnarok Crater as we had ever been, and somehow, it showed. Visibility was little to none.
“We can’t get visual on these dragons with these damned clouds.”
Makara’s voice exited the speakers. She was flying the Gilgamesh, which she was more comfortable with. With her were Samuel, Julian, and Michael. Ashton and Anna piloted the Aeneas. I sat up front with them both.
We would be the ones to pull the trigger, when the time came.
“Steady as she goes,” Ashton said. “Radar’s picking something up dead ahead.”
At long last, there was a break in the clouds, and we saw them. The vision had been real.
They flew in the dozens, flying high on the wind toward the west with a single purpose. The mountains below reached up in jagged spires, wreathed in cloud and covered in snow. The sun broke between two mountain peaks, casting a red, bloodlike light upon the flying dragons.
Both ships slowed to a hover. The dragons were probably about a mile out.
“Fire when ready, Ashton,” Samuel said.
There was no hesitation. Ashton pressed the button, and a streak of light shot out from Aeneas, hissing and creating a glowing trail in the cold mountain air.
As if on cue, the dragons broke, avoiding the path of the nuke. The missile tracked one dragon flying in the middle of the pack, igniting in a massive mushroom cloud.
The windshield tinted automatically, detecting the sharp increase in light. All vision of the dragons was lost as the massive wall of sound pummeled the ship.
Ashton guided Aeneas around, blasting in the direction from which we had come. This time Gilgamesh was right on our tail.
For the next two minutes, we sped away from the site of the blast. It came nowhere near to catching us.
“Are they gone?” Makara asked, her voice coming from the dash.
“We need confirmation,” Ashton said.
“We’ll check it out,” Makara said. “Be ready for anything.”
The ships turned back to face the site of the explosion. The clouds were lit with a fiery light — either from the dawn or from the remnants of the blast. As we advanced another thirty seconds, the cloud came into view, bulging upward and outward. It seemed as if there were no end to its colossal force.
“I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” Ashton intoned.
Anna and I looked at each other. She shrugged.
“It’s from the Epic of Gilgamesh.” Ashton shook his head. “Don’t you kids know anything?”
“Never heard of it,” Anna said.
“Well, I thought it was fitting.”
We hovered at a safe distance from the mass of clouds. Apart from that movement, nothing stirred in the air. It appeared as if…
Suddenly, everything rocked as the ship dropped to port. Red lights flashed. A terrible shriek sounded from outside the ship.
We had been attacked from above.
The ship was falling, fast. I held onto the dash for dear life as the mountains reached up for us. Something chewed on the bridge from above. Covering the upper right corner of the windshield was the pointed end of a wing.
“Mayday, mayday!” Ashton said.
“Ashton!” Makara shouted. “Engage retrothrusters!”
“I am!” he shouted back. “They’re not responding.”
Another crash jolted the ship, from further back. The ship spun ever downward. No sound came from the speakers.
We had lost contact with Gilgamesh.
I suddenly heard a series of pecks slam into the hull of the ship. I thought at first that it was the dragons. But I then realized it was Gilgamesh firing on us in an attempt to kill the dragons.
“Still going down!” Ashton shouted. “There’s too many of them!”
“We need to abandon ship,” Anna said.
I realized she was right. Aeneas wasn’t in a nosedive, but it would be soon. As more and more flying bodies slammed the top of the ship, it became increasingly clear that this was a fight we couldn’t win. We had to reach the ejection pods before it became impossible to even walk to them. They weren’t far — just off the main corridor leading to the bridge.
We unstrapped ourselves from our seats. Before turning for the corridor, I saw the form of a dragon spin down to Earth, spewing purple blood. Makara had at least shot one, but she still had dozens more to kill yet. That nuke had not killed off as many as we had thought.
I pulled Anna along, pushing her in front of me. She ran toward the corridor.
I reached a hand backward to assist Ashton. The old man gave me his arm, and I pulled him toward the corridor.
More dragons slammed into the hull from above, forcing the ship further downward.